Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece
chapter-133

“Since you said that Gennat is a Pyxousian, how could he fight for the position of the great chieftain of Grumentum?” Asked Asistes in doubt.

Izam had delibaretly stop at the climax, and now he grinned, “Because Akpir had married his daughter to Gennat so that they could make Pyxous their ally. Therefore, Grumentum and the great leader of Pyxous have become a family, and Gennat became the son-in-law of Akpir. It was also said that Cincinnag had also bought several of the chieftains of Grumentum, so Gennat could get the support of some of the tribes in Grumentum. However, Lusau had no choice but to ask help from another powerful tribe of Lucania, namely Potentia, and Cincinnag had also immediately asked for their arbitration, but Potentia did not gave any statement. Now that both sides are gathering together, the merchants and sailors said that a great war may break out at any time to decide who will be the great chieftain of Grumentum!”

Davos did not expect that the war would not only split the Lucanian alliance, but also change the power structure of the Lucanian region. Now that there are undercurrents everywhere, this will be a great opportunity for Amendolara.

“Can you make a map of Lucania?” Asked Davos urgently. Before Izam left, he asked this of him repeatedly.

“Yes.” Affirmed Izam.

And so, the three came to the mud in the courtyard of the house. Then Izam drew the map carefully with a stick, while Asistes stood at the side with a parchment and a reed pen. After Izam finished his drawing, he then drew the map on the parchment.

Davos observed the map carefully and listened to Izam.

He found that the mountain road to the west of Thurii did not lead directly to Laos, but between Laos and Nerulum. The city of Laos, at the estuary of the Lao river, guards the land passage from the Brutti area to the Lucanian area, and the city of Vergae of the Brutti is the barrier of the Brutti to prevent the Lucanians from invading. Compared with Laos, Nerulum is more important for Amendolara, because it guards the passage to the north into Lucania, and only after occupying it, can Amendolara have a variety of options for further occupation of Lucania…

“Izam, the information that you have brought is very important. You have made a great contribution to the city-state! So I have decided to set up a reconnaissance team, and you will be its captain. For the time being, there will only be 20 people in it, and you can go to each brigade to choose your people. If they don't let them go, then you can ask them to come to me!” While Davos praised him, he also immediately fulfilled his promise.

“Milord, thank you!” Izam almost jumped with excitement.

“Go back home quickly. Your wife must have missed you very much since you are not at home for more than ten days! By the way, the waterwheel has been built along the Siris river to divert the water into your fields, so you don't have to worry about fetching water anymore!”

“Great!” Izam was so happy to rush outside.

“Wait!” Davos stopped him, and then asked the slaves to bring two large jars of wine and said, “Since you like the wine so much, then take it home and drink it slowly.”

Izam once again expressed his thanks, then took one in each of his hand and went home happily.

“Milord, this kid is too rude!” Asistes was dissatisfied with Izam's behavior in the living room.

“He is still a Carduchian.” Laughed Davos, “Asi, don't put too much emphasis on these superficial things, the main thing is here and here.”

Davos pointed to his chest and head, then said, “Izam has successfully completed the task I have given him, which is not easy. He is a talented young man! As long as someone is talented and isn't bad, then we should use him, right?”

“Yes, Milord.”

“Now that we know the situation in Lucania, how should we attack it? You go back and think about it, and come over tomorrow and we will have a good discussion.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

After breakfast, Kunogelata suddenly felt uncomfortable in his chest, so he had to be helped by the slaves to go to the “hospital” in Amendolara.

The hospital is located in the lower part* of Amendolara near the city gate. It is said that in order to support the development of the hospital, the archon, Davos, had specially approved two empty houses next to each other and gave them over to Herpus to set up the hospital. (note: reason why there is an upper and lower part is because it is a mountain city)

Kunogelata had heard rumors in Thurii that the physicians of Davos mercenary are highly skilled, but when he arrived at the hospital, he was taken aback by what he saw. From the gate to the foot of the mountains, are hundreds of patients waiting in a long line, which have even affected the entrance and exit of the city gate. The people of Amendolara then saw a business opportunities and so they set up stalls near the hospital to sell food, water, and also renting wooden chairs, hats and so on, which had actually turned into a very lively small market here.

Antonios, the inspector, had once reported this matter to Davos, besides sending more patrols to maintain order, Davos has no other choice for the time being, and so, he can only order the aedile, Alexius, to build a large hospital next to the warehouses and inns after completing their construction, and then move the hospital out in order to restore the traffic in the city.

And so, Kunogelata's loyal slave went to rent a wooden chair and have him sit down, and then went inside to looked for a physician to see if he could give him priority. However, as soon as he arrived at the entrance, he was stopped by the patrol in charge of maintaining the order. After knowing the situation, he said that he was powerless and added, “There are many people who came here to see a physician which have a more serious problem than your master, but they also went to queue like the others. Unless it's life-threatening, no matter who you are, you can only queue up outside!”

The slave reluctantly took a number plate and returned to Kunogelata. But unexpectedly, the other patients in the hospital of Amendolara besides Amendolarans are mainly from Heraclea and Thurii. When the Thurians among the patients saw Kunogelata sitting beside him, they began to shout at him as soon as they recognize him. The place then became chaotic for a while, which made all the guards at the gate to come over.

It made Kunogelata so angry that he didn't even bother to have his illness check and so he went home. But in the evening, his chest began to feel a slight pain, which made him not sleep well all night and so he had to rush to the hospital early the next morning, but it turned out that the entrance of the hospital was deserted, and when he went to ask the nurse who was left behind, did he only find out that the archon Davos would give lectures to the physicians this morning and in order for them to concentrate on their study and discussion, they won't take a look at patients on this day.

Since the lectures of the physicians were not as open as those of the Pythagorean disciples, and was only open to physicians and nurses, so Kunogelata could not enter, and he could only admit that it is his bad luck.

By noon at his home, Kunogelata not only felt pain on his chest, but also had difficulty in breathing, and he was unable to get out of bed. So his son, Sostratus, had no choice but to break into the physician's meeting place.

Davos, who was having a heated discussion and exchanging his experience of treatment and consultation with the physicians, was shocked when he heard about the situation of Kunogelata, and so, he immediately sent Herpus to Kunogelata's home to check him.

Herpus asked about condition of Kunogelata in detail, and after a careful physical examination, did he concluded that when Kunogelata was beaten up before, his chest rib has a bone fracture, and it was not treated immediately. After coming to Amendolara, besides not having good rest, he even went to hike the mountain, which resulted to a fracture of his sternum. The fractured sternum then pierced his lung, which had caused his current condition. With his diagnosis, Herpus manage to treat Kunogelata and his condition began to improve, and so, Kunogelata has repeatedly praised Herpus for his excellent medical skills.

However, Davos, who was still at the hospital, had found some problems in the newly established hospital through the difficulty of Kunogelata to see a physician. First of all, although the reputation of Amendolara's hospital has been expanded and other economic benefits have been brought about, it is now more difficult for the citizens of Amendolara to see a physician than before (because there are too many foreign patients), this should not happen, because it does not reflect the sense of superiority as a citizen of Amendolara. Fortunately, he found out about it in time, otherwise, the citizens will accumulate resentment over time, and this resentment will then be aimed at Davos. After all, he is the one that initiated the establishment of the hospital, and he is also the teacher in name of the physicians. Therefore, a special way for the citizens of Amendolara must be established in the hospital, regardless of the severity of their illness, they must get priority in seeing a physician! Also priority in treatment! It is to let the patients in other cities see the privilege of being a citizen of Amendolara and let them know the happiness of being a citizen of Amendolara!

Secondly, during medical lectures, a physician must stay in the hospital to deal with emergencies. And that medical lectures should not be too frequent, so as not to affect curing normal illnesses and treatment.

Thirdly, in view of the fact that there are too many patients that comes in a day, Davos thinks that it is a good thing since it will increase the income of inns and other industries in Amendolara. However, if a patient with serious problem cannot be treated in time, then the reputation of the hospital will be affected, and the best and only way is to increase the number of physicians. There are currently six physicians in the hospital, but it will take time to train a good physicians (not counting witch doctors and quack doctors), Amendolara can't train new physicians in a short time, so they have to tempt physicians from other city-states. If the reputation of the hospital continues to expand, then it will naturally attract the physicians of other city-states to come study. Then a proposal can be passed in the council that allows foreign physicians who are willing to stay in Amendolara be accepted as a formal student of the hospital, and for him to have access to all the medical theories, medical records and research contents, and the city-state will then immediately grant him the citizenship of Amendolara…they will also consider extending the scope of citizenship to teachers. Physicians and teachers are also talents that are highly needed in this era, which are essential for the survival and development of a city-state. However, Amendolara is short of both, specially teachers.

Note: At the end of the Roman Republic, when Caesar was in office, he enacted a bill on granting foreign doctors and teachers citizenship.